Developer: Mommy's Best Games, Super Soul LLC
Publisher: Mommy's Best Games
Platform: Xbox One, PS4, Switch
Tested on: PS4
Shoot 1UP DX – Review
What would happen if aliens did not approve of humans scouting the galaxy? In Shoot 1UP DX it puts the player in the scenario where a sudden hostile invasion means the destruction of humankind. You have one shot to fight with the forces you have left and drive the invaders back once and for all. In true vertical scrolling fashion, you will be able to enjoy the game with many different difficulty options, allowing for various kinds of scenarios and challenges.
Story
All was fine and dandy in the world until suddenly alien attackers invade the planet while catching the inhabitants off guard. During the initial attack, many lives got lost and nearly the entire planet got destroyed. Determined to survive, the Phalanx decide to launch an all-out counter-attack with the few ships that they have left. Refusing to go down without a fight, they must defeat the alien scum and rebuild civilization once it is safe again.
In terms of story, there isn’t much to go by. When booting up the game you will be greeted by a slideshow of pictures telling the story. Once you clear the game there will be an ending screen concluding the events after the defeat of the invaders. Sadly there is no flow of the story in-between missions. We reckon this was an intentional choice because stages are chosen at random.
Graphics
Shoot 1UP DX is a game that, if compared with arcade games from years ago, would fit in perfectly in an arcade hall. Created from the ground up in Unity and styled after popular games from the era, it seems that many hours have been poured into the artwork of the game. During your campaign, you will fight in eight different biomes that each have their own unique enemies, backgrounds and bosses. Every asset in the game looks to be carefully hand-crafted with some nice attention to detail. At all times there will be a lot happening on the screen, having to dodge the many unique attacks that the opposition throws at you. All the action takes place from the top-down perspective, which makes for some creative dodging during firefights, when it almost turns into a bullet-hell shooter.
Sound
One essential element of a great arcade game is the music. It needs to sound catchy while not becoming boring or tedious when hearing it over and over again. The techno-inspired music fits right in the menu and sounds good during your skirmishes. While often overlooked, sound effects are even more essential because the better it triggers the players, the more engaged they will be. Sound indicators will let you know when you have to change direction, are in danger, or when power-ups are dropped.
Gameplay
Shoot 1UP DX is a vertical scrolling arcade game where you are the head of the resistance during an alien invasion. While the core mechanics are simple for anyone to learn, there are a few amazing gameplay features that make the game stand out from the rest. There are two main game modes: Start Game and Quick Start. In Start Game, you can play the campaign on four different difficulty settings, and in Quick Start, you can quickly boot the game with the same settings as your previous run on Start Game. The main game has three difficulties from easy to hard, each being well-balanced. The fourth difficulty option is Score Trek, where you only have one ship but this is upgradeable with power-ups. Every time you clear a level, the difficulty will increase, but your score will also increase.
Your normal skirmish starts with the last three ships remaining from the home base and once they are gone, it is game over. When defeating enemies, you might come across other survivors and when you collect them, they will join your fleet and your army grows. To control your ever-growing faction, you will need to adjust its formation. You can either let all ships fly close, sacrificing firepower for maneuverability, or spread out your ships to maximize damage. If your fleet is plentiful enough, you will also have a powerful plasma auger at your disposal. The energy of your ships collects in the middle and after a short charge, it will obliterate many opponents on the receiving end. On some rare occasions, you will find random power-ups that grant you temporary invincibility or mirrors your fleet, effectively doubling firepower.
The game has eight different stages, each one with unique enemies and a special boss fight. During a run, you will only play through six stages at random. This means if you want to see all the different biomes, then you must play the game a few times. During each flight, there will be an option to stick with your route for convenience, or take a turn off the beaten path and maximize score by fighting in high-risk areas. At the end of each stage, you will get the summary of how your stage went and you will start the next one with the same fleet, so it is advised to stack up on firepower earlier on and keep your ships protected while advancing to the final boss.
Shoot 1UP DX is very easy to control. Just like any arcade game, you will only need to move the ship(s) around and shoot. Two buttons are used to expand and retract your fleet in the campaign. If you like simplicity, then you could always use the auto-shoot function, yet this could prove to be a bit annoying when flying a large fleet.
Conclusion
Shoot 1UP DX is a great arcade game that comes with some replay value if you want to see all the content. Each run is randomized and thanks to the nice artwork and music, it is a sight to behold and experience. Simple controls make the game easy to pick up and thanks to the different difficulty options you can adjust the gameplay to your skill level. If you want to change things up, then you could always try the Score Trek difficulty where progress is everything.
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